Flavors of Portugal & Spain

Note: Flights may not be available on all departures.

You can find more details on the Before You Depart page.

Welcome to Portugal! Travelers who purchased our air-inclusive program will enjoy a panoramic tour of Lisbon on the way to our hotel. Tonight, our tour director hosts an orientation meeting and welcome dinner at our hotel.

Today we'll explore Belém, Lisbon's riverside district. From the 16th-century Monastery of Jeronimos, a prime example of Portuguese late Gothic architecture to Belém Tower where soldiers once watched the Tagus River for incoming invaders to the Monument of Discoveries which honors Portugal's navigators who explored trade opportunities with Asia. We'll have some free time for lunch, and then visit Ajuda National Palace, a former Royal residence that continues to be a glamourous backdrop to the ceremonies of the Presidency. We'll end our day with a cooking lesson in a Lisbon restaurant where we'll have the chance to make typical Portuguese “pastéis de bacalhau” (salted cod fritters). We'll taste our dishes with a glass of Portuguese wine. The rest of the day is ours to explore independently.

Today is yours to explore intriguing Lisbon independently. Consider a full-day excursion to Sintra with a wine tasting at a nearby winery and lunch at a local restaurant (see optional tours).

After breakfast this morning, we head north! We'll stop in Sangalhos for a special experience at the Aliança winery with an exclusive underground museum. Here we'll enjoy Portugal's famous Bairrada Leitão, a roast suckling pig, that serves as one of the 7 Gastronomic Wonders of Portugal! After our visit, we'll continue to Porto with the evening at leisure.

Today's guided tour starts on foot as we explore the well-preserved historical center, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We'll walk along the beautiful Avenida dos Aliados, an impressive boulevard in the heart of Porto. We'll see ornate, architecturally diverse buildings including Porto Cathedral, one of the city's oldest. We'll enjoy a 50-minute boat trip on the Douro River, navigating through the riverbanks of Porto and Vila Nova de Gaia. Next, we'll participate in a workshop at WOW Porto where we'll embark on a journey around the extraordinary world of chocolate and cacao. During our visit, we'll learn more about where cacao comes from and how chocolate is made. The rest of the day is free to explore independently.

Today, we'll travel east to the Douro region! We'll travel to Pinhão's charming railway station, renowned for the beauty of its azulejos or tiled panels. Here, we'll board the MiraDouro, a train formed by a diesel locomotive and Schindler tourist cars that were produced in the 1940s and recently restored. We can open the train's panoramic windows during our scenic train ride along the banks of the Douro River. After we disembark and transfer to our new hotel for a welcome glass of Douro wine followed by a visit to the on-site winery.

Today we say "adeus" to Portugal as we cross into Spain. We'll discover León, which was the capital city of the Kingdom of León during the Middle Ages, and a historic enclave on the Pilgrim's Road to Santiago de Compostela. During our visit, we'll explore the city's old town, named the Barrio Húmedo or the "wet district" because it has the city's biggest concentration of bars, pubs, and taverns. It's also where we'll find the city's best tapas bars and serves as the perfect place to go bar hopping and sample as we go! After our tapas pub crawl, the rest of our day is at leisure.

Today we visit Burgos, a city still full of medieval splendor. Once the capital of the unified kingdom of Castilla-León for five centuries, Burgos is home to a masterpiece of Spanish Gothic architecture: the Cathedral of Burgos, a UNESCO World Heritage site. We'll take a guided walk through the historic quarter and learn about the varied cuisine before continuing on to La Rioja region.

Today we continue our journey into the world of wine with a visit to the Wine Culture Museum located in a La Rioja vineyard. At the museum, we'll learn more about the history of wine with an explanation of its production methods and cultural significance. We'll also enjoy a modern lunch paired with local wines.

After breakfast, we'll depart for Bilbao, a unique city where we can find the avant-garde in every corner including its old town. We'll walk Bilbao's streets filled with charming shops and flea markets. Our walking tour takes us to the Artxanda funicular which we'll ride up Artxanda Mountain, offering an incredible panoramic view of Bilbao. Afterward, we can consider joining an optional tapas lunch. Later, we'll continue to San Sebastián, a city along a white sandy bay between the Urgall and Igueldo hills.

Today we'll take a city tour of San Sebastián, an attractive city filled with fisherman's port houses and modern districts. Next, we'll visit a local apple tree orchard that makes apple cider - a drink first made in the north of Spain. The story goes that the land in northern Spain was unsuitable for growing grapes so apples were used to ferment the drink which later earned the title of Cider of the Basque Country. At the cider farm, we'll learn more about the process and cellars; and then we'll have a magnificent, traditional Basque farewell lunch as a group.

Our tour comes to an end after breakfast today. Travelers who purchased our air-inclusive package will transfer to the airport for our flight back to the U.S. and return home full of wonderful memories of Portugal & Spain.